CoinTelegraph has revealed that Alipay, the payment application developed by Ant Financial - a subsidiary of Alibaba, is currently planning to implement blockchain technology to benefit customers in the long run.
In China, Alipay is often used to pay wages as well as to make payments in shops and online. It marks the shift in current years to find more efficient ways than traditional banking systems to settle payments. With over 450 million reported users in China, Alipay is a $60 billion financial application.
In an interview with CNBC, Eric Jing, the CEO of Ant Financial, stated: “We have an ambition to be a global company. So my vision (is) that we want to serve 2 billion people in the next 10 years by using technology, by working together with partners … to serve those underserved.”
Some of the benefits of blockchain technology that were picked out as key for the mobile payment sector were its increased efficiency and global reach which would the costs and speed required to settle transactions worldwide. Other benefits would include increased security and decentralisation, which Jing highlighted. The company is currently preparing for an initial public offering.
